Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 10/02) - Super 8 Motel owners got their wish, and will now line their property with landscaping and potted planters instead of a fence as originally instructed by city council.

A special meeting by council was held to deal with the matter on Monday, attended by Super 8 minority shareholder David Connelly, Yellowknife Condominium Corporation's president Sarah Kay, and at least one home owner opposed to the plan from nearby Butler Road.

The majority shareholder of the Yellowknife Super 8 Motel franchise is the Inuvik-based Inuvialuit Development Corporation. Other shareholders include Royop Hospitality Corporation and Superior Lodging, of Calgary, which controls Super 8 franchises in Canada, and Dale Bowler, a former Yellowknife developer who now lives in Sherwoood Park, Alta., and Connelly.

The motel was already a source of contention for some residents when it was being built in 1998, and for David LeGrosse it still is.

"They shouldn't have built the thing in the first place," said the Butler Road resident.

Among the problems LeGrosse and other residents had with the motel was the number of truckers parking there and leaving their engines running -- something Connelly said isn't a problem any more. Part of the conditions council imposed on the motel developers four years ago was to have a six-foot high fence constructed around its property line.

They never built it. Instead, Super 8 sought the support of condominium owners next door to line the property with potted planters with ranch-style fencing in between, and landscaping.

It appeared the change of plans would go ahead after they received an endorsement from city council's public services committee last May, but councillors referred back to committee at the last regular meeting June 10.

Both Kay and Connelly told council Monday that a six-foot wooden fence would be an automatic target for graffiti artists, and make the motel look like a fortress.

LeGrosse said that without fencing, blowing garbage will find its way onto his lawn.

"If graffiti is the problem, I'll volunteer to go once a year and paint," LeGrosse told council during the meeting.

Ultimately, all but one councillor present sided with Super 8. Only Coun. Dave Ramsay voted against it.